Container with cup liners and cup holders

ABSTRACT

This container has an elongated, cylindrical cavity for positioning cup liners and either a cavity or a pintle for positioning cup holders neatly.

[ CONTAINER WITH CUP LINERS AND CUP HOLDERS [76] Inventor: Theodore 1R.Dawson, 3794 Blossom Ln., Odessa, Tex. 79760 22 Filed: 0ct.21, 1971 21App]. No.: 191,330

[52] US. Cl. 211/49 D, 206/65 K, 211/59, 211/125, 221/45, 221/97,221/312 A,

[51] Int. Cl. A47f 7/28, B42f 13/12 [58] Field of Search 312/43, 42;211/49, 59, 44,,

211/49 D, 1, 125; 248/1453; 206/56 K, 65 K; 229/1.5 H; 221/312 A, 97,303, 92, 45, 33; 224/45 G; 296/22 [451 Jan. 29, 1974 2,325,604 8/1943Gibbs 211/49 D UX 1,090,554 3/1914 McCornack 21 1/59 1,299,120 4/1919Burgess 312/43 V UX 1,424,517 8/1922 Potts 312/43 1,625,193 4/1927Curtin 312/43 2,112,959 4/1938 Harvey 206/56 K 2,206,083 7/1940Feibelman 224/45 G X 2,645,352 7/1953 Petzold 211/49 R 3,093,149 6/1963Jaffe 211/59 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 330,678 6/1930 GreatBritain 206/65 K 1,216,849 11/1959 France 211/49 R PrimaryExaminer-William H. Schultz Assistant Examiner-Abraham Frankel Attorney,Agent, or Finn-Charles W. Coffee [57] ABSTRACT 10 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures PMENTEDJM 29 m4 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG. 4

CONTAINER WITII CUP LINERS AND CUP HOLDERS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a cabinetsupport structure for a magazine of readily removable stacked cupshapedarticles.

2. Description of the Prior Art.

Coffee is often served in commercial and office establishments by theuse of a cup liner and cup holder. The liner is a truncated, conical cupwith a flange or ring at the bottom to snap into a positioner at thebottom of a holder. In this way the cup liner is made of inexpensivethin disposable plastic and the holder of heavier plastic or ceramicmaterial.

Customarily the liners are sold packaged in a cardboard dispenserwherein there is an elongated slot along one edge so the cup holder maybe snapped over the liner to assemble the liner into the holder.However, the containers are quite light and therefore, they are easilyknocked to one side. Also, the holders become scattered around upon theserving table. Often the cups are used on a self-service basis by manypeople apparently having little or no incentive to keep the servingfacilities neat. These cup liners and holders are extremely popularwhere mechanics work, such as garages, shops and manufacturing plants.In these cases, the facilities are not clean and therefore, when the containers for the cup liners become toppled over, they tend to becomedirty and unusable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1. New and Different Function I have solved theproblem by providing a simple magazine wherein the unused cup liners maybe stacked in a cavity and, in addition, the cup holders may also bepositioned in a serial fashion so they are also kept neatly in place inthe same unit. In this way, the entire facility for serving coffee ismaintained neat and clean. I prefer to attach the unit to a wall;therefore, making it difficult if not impossible to knock over and spillthe contents. However, if placed on a table, the base is made heavierand wider so it is more difficult to knockover.

(2.) Objects of the Invention.

An object of this invention is to neatly position cup liners and cupholders.

Further objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy,compact, durable, simple, safe, effi- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGFIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1 and2, it may be seen that this container has body 10. Obviously, thecontainer may be made of any suitable material, but I prefer syntheticmaterial commonly called plastic.

The body 10 is basically a parallelepipedon in shape having arectangular base and a rectangular smooth back face I2, which includestab 14 extending upward from the back face 12. The tab 14 has the samewidth as the back face 12. It also has two nail holes 16 so nails may beused to attach it to a wall.

The body 10 has four elongated, cylindrical cavaties. Two of these areliner cavities l8 and the two are holder cavities 20. Each cavity has anelongated axis which is vertically oriented. The liner cavities 18 havea greater diameter than the holder cavities 20. Stated otherwise, theholder cavities have a lesser transverse dimension than the linercavities 18. This is because the diameter of liners 22 is greater thanthe diameter of holders 24.

A plurality of nested, inverted cup liners 22 are illustrated seriallystacked in one of the liner cavities 18. By inverted it is meant thatthe truncated, conical shaped liner is stacked with the apex up, orupside down from the way it would be used when holding liq- 'uid.Likewise, a plurality of inverted cup holders 24 are illustratedserially stacked in one of the holder cavities 20. Preferably they arestacked inverted, although they may be stacked upright, or for thatmatter, some can be upright and some can be inverted.

Each of the cup holders 24 has handle 26 extending outward through slot28. The slot 28 extends through front face 30 of the body 10. It extendsfor the entire length of the holder cavity 20 to the top thereof whichis open. The liner cavity 18 has slot 32 in the front face 30. This slotalso extends the full length of the cavity 18 which is open at the top.

In use, one of the holders 24 is removed by its handle 26 from theholder cavity 20 by moving it vertically upward and then it is moveddown over the top liner 22 in the liner cavity 18 and pushed down overthe top cup liner 22 until it snaps in place, thus assembling the cup.The assembled cup is removed from the cavity 18 by moving it verticallyupward.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment having a parallelepipedon bodywith liner cavities 318 and holder cavities 320 which are cylindrical incross sec tion and have elongated parallel vertical axes. Also, thetranverse dimensions of each holder cavity 320 is less than thetransverse dimensions of each liner cavity 318. As previously indicated,holders 24 are illustrated in the holder cavity 320 and liners 22 in theliner cavity 318. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the bottom isenlarged to form base 314. It may be seen that this enlarged baseperforms the same function as tab 14 in the previous embodiment, i.e.,it is a fixing means on the body 10 for holding the body in the desiredorientation, which is for cylindrical cavities 318 and 320 to bevertical.

FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment. Body 410 has only two cavities,both being liner cavities 418; the two liner cavities 418 have the sametransverse dimensions. Again, they are illustrated as cylindrical incross section and with a slot in the front face of the body. Again,there would be a plurality of inverted, nested cup liners 22 seriallystacked in the cavity 418. Two pintles 420 are attached to the body 410on either side thereof. These pintles are cylindrical rods which extendvertically upward so the axes of the pintles 420 are parallel with theelongated axes of the cylindrical cavities 418. The cup holders 24 areserially stacked upon the pintles 420. Standard cup holders each have acircular opening through the bottom which is normally used to snap overthe bottom of the liners 22, but which also makes it ideally suited forstacking on pintles. The pintles 420 serve the same function as theholder cavity 20, i.e., they serve as a positioner for the cup holders.

It will be obvious that the model with the pintles can be made eitherwith a base similar to base 314 or a tab similar to tab 14. The bottomof the pintles 420 are connected to the body 410 by member 432.

Thus it may be seen that I have provided a convenient container toneatly position and contain the cup liners and holders.

The embodiments shown and described above are only exemplary. I do notclaim to have invented all the parts, elements or steps described.Various modifications can be made in the construction, material, andarrangement, and still be within the scope of my invention. The limitsof the invention and the bounds of the patent protection are measured byand defined in the following claims. The restrictive description anddrawing of the specific examples above do not point out what aninfringement of this patent would be, but are to enable the reader tomake and use the invention.

SUBJECT MATTER CLAIMED FOR PROTECTION I claim as my invention: 1. Acontainer with cup liners and cup holders, each cup holder having ahandle, said container having a. a body, b. at least one elongated linercavity in the body with i the longitudinal axis of the cavity verticallyoriented, and ii a continuously extending vertical slot in the facethereof, iii said liner cavity open at the top and said slot extendingto the top, iv a plurality of inverted, nested cup liners seriallystacked in the liner cavity; 0. at least one cup holder positioner onsaid body,

i said cup holder positioner parallel to said cavity,

and ii a plurality of cup holders serially stacked on the positioner; d.fixing means on the body for holding the body in the desiredorientation,

e. so that a cup holder may be moved upward to disengage it from thepositioner, then jammed over a cup liner with the cup holder handlepassing down 5 the slot to assemble the cup and then the assembled cuplifted vertically from the liner cavity. 2. The invention as defined inclaim 1 with the additional limitation of f. said liner cavity beinggenerally cylindrical in shape. 3. The invention as defined in claim 1wherein said fixing means is f a base by which the body stands on atable. 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said fixing meansis f. a tab attached to the body along a back face of the body having g.nail holes in the tab. 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid cup holder positioner is in the form of f. an elongated cylindricalholder cavity in the body,

having i a longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of theliner cavity,

ii a transverse dimension less than the transverse dimension of theliner cavity, and iii is open at the top; g. a continuously extendingvertical slot interconnecting the cavity and the face of the body, b.said slot extending to the top of the cavity.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said fixing means is j. abase by which the body stands on a table. 7. The invention as defined inclaim 5 wherein said fixing means is j. a tab attached to the body alonga back face of the body having k. nail holes in the tab. 8. Theinvention as defined in claim 1 wherein said cup holder positioner is inthe form of f. a pintle having f. an axis parallel to the axis of saidliner cavity, and ii is attached to the body at the bottom of thepintle. 9. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said fixing meansis g. a base by which the body stands on a table. 10. The invention asdefined in claim 8 wherein said fixing means is g. a tab attached to thebody along a back face of the body having h. nail holes in the tab.

1. A container with cup liners and cup holders, each cup holder having ahandle, said container having a. a body, b. at least one elongated linercavity in the body with i the longitudinal axis of the cavity verticallyoriented, and ii a continuously extending vertical slot in the facethereof, iii said liner cavity open at the top and said slot extendingto the top, iv a plurality of inverted, nested cup liners seriallystacked in the liner cavity; c. at least one cup holder positioner onsaid body, i said cup holder positioner parallel to said cavity, and iia plurality of cup holders serially stacked on the positioner; d. fixingmeans on the body for holding the body in the desired orientation, e. sothat a cup holder may be moved upward to disengage it from thepositioner, then jammed over a cup liner with the cup holder handlepassing down the slot to assemble the cup and then the assembled cuplifted vertically from the liner cavity.
 2. The invention as defined inclaim 1 with the additional limitation of f. said liner cavity beinggenerally cylindrical in shape.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 1wherein said fixing means is f a base by which the body stands on atable.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said fixing meansis f. a tab attached to the body along a back face of the body having g.nail holes in the tab.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid cup holder positioner is in the form of f. an elongated cylindricalholder cavity in the body, having i a longitudinal axis parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the liner cavity, ii a transverse dimension lessthan the transverse dimension of the liner cavity, and iii is open atthe top; g. a continuously extending vertical slot interconnecting thecavity and the face of the body, h. said slot extending to the top ofthe cavity.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said fixingmeans is j. a base by which the body stands on a table.
 7. The inventionas defined in claim 5 wherein said fixing means is j. a tab attached tothe body along a back face of the body having k. nail holes in the tab.8. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said cup holderpositioner is in the form of f. a pintle having f. an axis parallel tothe axis of said liner cavity, and ii is attached to the body at thebottom of the pintle.
 9. The invention as defined in claim 8 whereinsaid fixing means is g. a base by which the body stands on a table. 10.The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said fixing means is g. atab attached to the body along a back face of the body having h. nailholes in the tab.